Flora and Fauna: Many plants and
animals naturally resident of a northern, mountainous realm may be found
here. In the scattered secluded valleys
and meadows of the region can be found isolated juniper shrubs, evergreens, and
hardy grasses. Much of the country is
too rugged to support much in the way of plant life, and one may easily find
various species of moss and lichen clinging to the mountainsides. In terms of animal life, herds of mountain
goats may be found in the southern valleys, and reindeer are known to pass
through the region during their migrations.
The more dangerous creatures include frost giants, ice wolves, and
scattered yeti tribes. Rumour has it
that a particularly large, and reclusive, white dragon has her lair in one of
the tallest mountains of the region, though no one has found its location.

Further Reading: None.

Description by Giulio diSergio-Orsini.

The Land

The Djikarti live in small villages made of
stone houses or carved in the mountains, and the people are equally divided
between the ones which live underground and the ones above. There are only two major settlements in the
land: Hrektizaga and Fort Swaag.
Hrektizaga is the capital and only city of the nation. It is home to 1,200 Djikarti gnomes, 300
humans, and the Academy of Ice Sciences.
Fort Swaag is the military centre, where 1,000 well-equipped Blessed of
Szek gnomes patrol the southern mountains.

The People

The Djikarti gnomes are a merry, anarchical
gnomish sub-race. They have no king or
organized associations, and the only institution they have is the small army of
Blessed of Szek in Fort Swaag. Djikarti
are apparently unrelated to other Mystaran specimens. Their love for chaos has made them a fierce enemy of the Closed
Society, but friendly towards most other people of the Klagorst region,
although they do not understand the humans' apparent need for order. Djikarti are free spirits that can be found
anywhere in Klagorst; many are adventurers or mercenaries, and they have often
volunteered in armies that tried to cause the downfall of tyrants and despots
in the Heartlands. This makes Szekesh a
good place to visit. The gnomes are
hospitable and friendly, but unfortunately their chaotic nature results in the
absence of the concept of property.
Many Djikarti are in this respect equal to thieves, and it is
incomprehensible to them, that when they travel in Klagorst, they are often
charged of thievery. Perhaps the fact
that they do not feel the least respect for any institution makes any form of
understanding or agreement with this otherwise pleasant race all the more
difficult.

Recent History

According to their traditions, the gnomes
arrived in the region of Szekesh around AC 150, guided by their Immortal Szek,
Patron of Freedom. The gnomes tell that
they once witnessed the decline and self-destruction of an ancient society, and
decided therefore to avoid any social organisation thereafter. Unfortunately, this decision weakened their
race, and exposed them to the aggression of their neighbours, so Szek led His
protégées to a new land that eventually became Szekesh. The Djikarti faced few problems, because
there were no other civilised races in the vicinity; or so they believed,
because Djikarti scouts eventually discovered the hydrax at the north around AC
230. The two races have never liked
each other, but never came to war because of the isolationistic nature of the
hydrax and the peaceful and disorganised nature of the Djikarti.

The major threat to the Djikarti came much
later. First, around AC 430, the
Stygians began to invade from the south, and nearly conquered all the
land. Facing a troglodyte-dictated
truce without the possibility of defending themselves, other than with sparse
guerrilla activities, the Djikarti would probably have faced a destiny of
slavery. Amazingly, a new race arrived
from the east, succeeding in the impossible task of crossing the mountains: it
was the varkhas, who attacked the troglodytes and freed the country from the
invaders (AC 434-437). Even if, at
first, the Djikarti feared that the varkhas were simply going to be new
oppressors, they left Szekesh when the last troglodyte did so, then departed
southwards to forge their kingdom, Gournzee.
After that, the Djikarti lived free, but decided to organise a stable
military force, guided mostly by Blessed of Szek, self-styled crusaders of
Szek, who are born with an innate sense of lawfulness. These are the police and military of the
country, but are also not at all oppressive, and although they differ greatly
in behaviour and mannerisms from their other kin, they know that they were born
for the sole purpose of ensuring a completely free way of life for the
Djikarti.

When the Visneskayan and Brasovian humans
came from the southeast, and attempted to take over the country, the Blessed of
Szek managed to oust the aggressive human settlers, and founded Fort Swaag to
discourage future invasions, but did not face any more trouble.

Don't Miss

Szekesh is a very good country to visit if
you are an anarchist, but otherwise it can be a frustrating experience, maybe
more so than the Land of the Closed Society, outside Hrektizaga. In this city lives a small community of
humans, and the Djikarti who live here try to cope with the needs of order
other races have... so there one may enjoy a near-paradise of semi-anarchy, even
if most Djikarti feel that the city's atmosphere is too restrictive to them!